The competition between Google and Microsoft  is likely to drive up DoubleClick's price beyond $2 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported in ins online edition, citing unnamed people familiar with the situation. See Wall Street Journal story (subscription required).

DoubleClick acts as a middleman between advertisers and ad agencies and online publishers, according to the report. The New York company's Internet-based systems let advertisers deliver ads to Web sites and serve up ads for publishers when consumers view their Web pages, The Journal said.

Yahoo Inc.

TWX AOL online unit also have talked to DoubleClick which is majority-owned by San Francisco private-equity firm Hellman & Friedman though it is unclear whether AOL is still in the race, The Journal said.

The bidding is part of a bigger battle as four of the biggest Internet players vie for the lucrative business of brokering online advertisements, according to The Journal, and the contest reflects concern about the increasing power of Google. AOL, is one of DoubleClick's biggest customers and Time Warner's interest in DoubleClick is partly founded on protecting that relationship, The Journal said.

Google and Microsoft spokesmen declined comment, a Yahoo spokeswoman couldn't be reached and a spokeswoman for DoubleClick said she had no immediate comment, The Journal said.